Policy Webinar: Smarter, Stronger and More Competitive Rural Areas

As the EU Institutions are preparing the next Multi Annual Financial Framework—to be tabled in July 2025—, building on the Political Guidelines of the European Commission, the Letta and Draghi Reports, as well as the Long-Term Vision for Rural areas and the recent Vision for Agriculture and Food, it is time to reflect on the role of community-led innovation in creating vibrant rural areas.

Building on the successful European Local Innovation Forum (ELIF) held in November 2024—where FUTURAL and its sister projects SMART ERA and RURACTIVE joined forces—, and following the RURACTIVE Forum in February 2025, this policy dialogue continues to foster the emergence of an active European policy community on rural innovation.

The policy webinar aims to:

• To present the findings of the FUTURAL policy analysis on EU-level policy support to community-led innovation in rural areas.
• To provide country-specific examples of policies and governance frameworks contributing to community-led innovation in FUTURAL countries (Austria, Belgium, Greece, Lithuania, Spain, Romania).
• To discuss policy needs, gaps and recommendations to further contribute to smart community-led innovation in rural areas in the 2028-2034 programming period.
• To present the initial set of FUTURAL policy recommendations on enhancing community-led innovation in post-2027 EU policies with project and external experts.